Through my eyes
by loulou777
Summary: After visiting the scene of a Warlocks murder, Jace begins to experience strange episodes and needs help from Alec and Magnus before he loses himself completely. Set at no particular timeline.


Jace stared down in grotesque fascination at the dead warlock. She was beautiful even in death. Her skin though pale blue was flawless save for the unfamiliar symbols carved recently and without care into her slender bare arms, the deep crimson her drying blood stark against the blue. Strange he thought. He wrongly would have expected it to be blue also. But then she was half mundane too. He lifted her arm to examine the callous handiwork more closely. He would've usually left that task to Isabelle but he found these symbols intriguing for some reason. They were nothing like his own runes. They were most likely demonic he mused given the circumstances of her death but as he turned her arm over an object still grasped with her palm caught his attention. Intrigued he gently removed it to find it was a small clear orb, a common enough find in the world of warlocks and nothing exciting afterall he thought, subconsciously disappointed. It was just one of the many trinkets that littered the shelves of the dusty old shop, but as he examined it closer for just a split second he was certain that he'd caught a glimpse of a swirling image inside.

Without warning a wave of dizziness washed over him and he instinctively closed his eyes and pushedthe heal of his hand into the bridge of his nose to stave it off. For a moment the stark imagery of the dead warlock played out in front of him. She was alive though clearly afraid of something or someone Jace couldn't see, a forced look of calm and obstinance plastered across her perfect features. A now pointless swell of concern coursed through him and he stiffened his body wanting to react.

"Jace, over here." Alec's voice pulled his attention and from the daydream or vision, whatever it was and the image faded just as quickly as it began. Within the time it took to focus on Alec he couldn't clearly remember what he'd seen, like the way one forgets their dreams moments after waking. He realised was he still squatting over the warlock, the orb now grasped in his own palm and after blinking away the cobwebs he placed it without thinking into the small wooden box that lay open by the warlocks thigh from which it had obviously been removed. It seemed inconsequential now.

Standing up he picked his way through the stands of ancients texts and strange artefacts and joined Alec and Magnus who were crouched at the front of the drab shop. Warlock shops were always so brown and dingy and Victorian London looking he thought. He supposed it was hard to emerge from past when you had lived through so many era's. Even Magnus with his flamboyant hair and makeup still appeared to live with one foot in a previous time.

"What you got?" He asked them focusing.

Alec tentatively held up an intricately carved dagger by the tip of the handle. Blood stained the dulled blade.

"You think that's what they used to decorate our lovely warlock over there?" Jace asked with a grimace.

"I'd certainly say so" Magnus chimed in with raised eyebrows taking the blade off Alec to examine it. "It looks like some sort of ceremonial dagger."

"Can you get anything from it?" Alec asked him after a moment.

Magnus shook his head. "I'm not a psychic Alexander" he said raising he eyebrows but smiling affectionately at his boyfriend. We'll take it with us and I'll examine it properly back at the institute."

After sifting through the rest of the shop and coming up clueless they called it a day leaving others to deal with the body. Jace gave her one last glance as they left and he wondered was there someone left who would mourn her passing or might shed light on what had happened. Magnus had told them he'd crossed paths with her over the years but wasn't well acquainted. She wasn't as old as him and now never would be he thought sadly. Alec nudged him from his maudlin thoughts as if reading his mind.

"Magnus is going to spending the evening looking into who she tended to hang out with so I'm free now later. You fancy some light sparring when we get back?"

"Light sparring." Jace mimiced sarcastically. "What are we mundanes?"

"OK, do you fancy getting your ass kicked later?" Alec added smiling smugly.

"Sounds like a plan but we'll see who gets their ass kicked shall we!"

...

Jace's nonchalance and ease of skill never failed to both impress Alec and garner a shred of annoyance, however at this moment he let the corner of his mouth curve up with the hint of a smile that he knew Jace wouldn't fail to notice. Alec had him cornered. They both knew it.

High in the rafters of the training room, they faced each completely focussed, blades in hand, knees slightly bent in attack stances, both easily maintaining a controlled balance on the slender beam they'd been sparring on after getting board with ground. Jace looked entirely graceful. His golden hair and the slight sheen of sweat that covered his lean yet muscular rune adorned arms and neck glistened in the light of a nearby chandelier. He looked as if he belonged up here, half angel, half predator stalking Alec with no hint of unease or doubt. He truly was beautiful Alec thought briefly, as was Magnus he scolded himself. But this time Jace had made a mistake. There was nowhere to go. The victory would be Alec's.

He launched his final attack assured in the aim of his seraph blade as it clashed loudly against jace's, the sound echoing in the expanse of the wide vaulted ceiling. Jace inched back having to stoop under the sloping beam above him like a cornered animal. The fight was about to be over. As if admitting defeat Jace suddenly threw his blade away from him letting it fall to the training room floor. But Alec barely had chance to registered the protest from Isabelle as she dodged the plummeting weapon below as Jace just as suddenly sprung at him unarmed knocking him back against the beam. Jace rolled over his body like an acrobat grasping Alec's sword arm in a tight twisting lock, squeezing painfully without remorsed. He increased the pressure until Alec too dropped his seraph blade no longer able to hold on but Jace didn't let up and Alec thought his arm would snap. Finally Alec conceded his defeat tapping out on the side of the beam beneath him. How had he lost that one.

Jace immediately let him go and with a rye smile offered his outstretched hand to pull Alec back to his feet.

"Thought I had you this time" Alec said, stretching and rubbing his sore arm to ease the pain of Jace's assault.

"And that big brother was your downfall" Jace responded unabashedly, unashamed of his own superiority, ruffling Alec's hair as a final insult. "Ready to go again" Jace smiled.

Alec let Jace's ego wash straight over his head like as he did most of the time. There was no point getting annoyed. He'd grown accustomed to it over the years and Jace wouldn't be Jace without it. "I think I'm done for tonight" he conceded scrubbing his sweaty face. Besides it was getting late and they were the only ones left in there.

"If you too are done being macho, I made dinner for us" Isabelle interrupted looking up at them hands on her hips wearing a tight red bodycon dress, completely inappropriate for cooking. Not your usual chefs outfit Alec thought, but he wouldn't expect anything less from Izzy.

"On second thoughts maybe I do have another round in me" Alec joked quietly to Jace at the thought of whatever concoction Isabelle had cooked up.

"Yeah it's probably the least life threat..."

He stopped mid-sentence.

Alec looked up at the abrupt end to Jace's reply and was surprised by the strange look on his face. His brow was furrowed and his eyes were unfocused as if no longer seeing the room around him. He slowly raised his hand to grip one of the upright beams next to him as if needing to steady himself. Concern welled up in Alec's gut as he started to approached slowly.

"Jace. You OK?"

He didn't answer. In fact Alec was certain Jace was no longer aware of Alec standing in front of him. He seemed focussed on something internal – like he was catatonic. He waved a hand in front of jace's face to get his attention.

"Hey you still with me?"

There was absolutely no reaction, but he could have sworn he'd seen a slight blue glow touch Jace's eyes for a second. What the hell was going on, he thought to himself. Then suddenly the features on Jace's face went completely slack and his hand slipped boneless from the beam following the memento of the rest of his body as he began to fall limp off the edge of the beam.

"Jace" Alec shouted rushing forward but failing to grab him in time and he could only watch in horror as Jace plummeted toward to floor to land heavily on his back with a thud again the thin training room matting. It wasn't particularly high for a Shadowhunter to jump but they usually liked to drop with a more controlled descent preferably under runic power. Had Jace been aware, the impact would have hurt like hell. Isabelle gasp in shock below at the sudden turn of events, and he watched her feeling the same as she crouched down hurriedly to check on Jace.

"By the angel , Jace" she muttered to herself.

Having already activated his agility rune earlier, without aanother seconds hesistation Alec dropped gracefully to join the pair.

"What happened?" Isabelle questioned without looking at Alec, worry clouding her features as she gently turned Jace's face to study him. His eyes were still open but they were staring sightless clearly unconscious. Despite this his breathing was even and he seemed otherwise fine. It was eerie seeing him like this.

"I don't know. He was talking one minute then he just went blank. Next minute he just passed out and I couldn't grab him in time to stop him from falling.

"Jace" Isabelle coaxed trying to rouse him as she rubbed at his cheek. "Jace come on wake up." There was no reaction. She changed tactic and began rubbing his breast bone firmly with her knuckles and finally after what seemed like an age, a sharp intake of breath signalled Jace was finally back with them. Awareness drifted into his gaze and he tried to sit up suddenly gasping in air like his body had just realised it had been winded from the fall. Alec tried to push him back down but he resisted struggling to catch his breath.

"Jace, your ok, just breath".

Jace gripped onto Alec's sweat shirt for support and the gasps quickly began go settle into even breaths. His eyes searched the room around him as if he was trying to get his bearings and then he stared up to the beams above them clearly surprised with the changed in location from before he passed out. "What happened?"

"We were gonna ask you the same thing. You were acting weird for a moment, just staring into space then you just fell. What's the last thing you remember?" Alec questioned him gently.

He rubbed his eyes obviously trying to make sense of it. "Erh, Isabelle said she'd made dinner then... then I was down here."

"We should get you checked out in the infirmary" Isabelle suggested moving to help him up. They both pulled him up but once upright he pulled himself away a little unsteady for a moment, clearly not eager to follow Izzy's advice.

"No I'm fine. Probably just the threat of your cooking" he joked, smiling at her sweetly as he finally finding his footing, the smile not reaching his eyes.

"Ha ha but come on let's go". Izzy pushed.

"Seriously I'm fine. I'm probably just tired." He pulled his hand from Izzy grip and began to walk off.

"Jace come on Izzy's right" Alec jumped in quickly moving to stop him. "You need to get checked out. You were out cold a minute ago and you know damn well Shadowhunters don't just pass out like that without good reason."

"Honestly Alec trust me, I feel fine now" Jace said, his hands raised in mock self assuredness trying to convince them. "Look if it happens again I promise I'll go. I'm just gonna go lie down ok." He gave Alec a reassuring smile and although he wasn't convinced by Jace's bravado he let him go. As he watched him disappear from sight he exchanged a worried glance with his sister. They both knew very well that you couldn't force Jace to do something he didn't want to, even if it was for his own good. He'd give him a minute and go check on his stubborn ass.

...

Jace shut the door to his room and leaned back against it closing his eyes. He let himself slide to the floor sighing deeply. His head and back hurt from the fall. He hadn't let the others see but it had shook him up. Flashes of images or maybe a dream he'd had while he was unconscious were just out of his reach on the fringes of his memory. He couldn't make sense of them and for some reason he felt he needed to. It was like what had happened in the shop now he thought about it..

Maybe it _was_ just the tiredness that had set in. Still it made him feel uneasy. He pushed it to the back of his mind and dragged himself onto the bed. Flopping down not bothering to undress he rubbed at his aching eyes. He'd activate his iratze in a second when he could be bothered. That would make him feel better but he felt so exhausted even that seemed an effort. Maybe he should have gone to the infirmary after all he thought , but within minutes he'd drifted off into a heavy sleep.

Tbc


End file.
